The attention we give AI

AI can give us an answer in seconds.

We can ask it to explain something, help us write, suggest an idea, make a decision or simply give us somewhere to begin. It can be really useful.

I’m curious about the attention we give AI, and what happens when we begin turning towards it before turning towards ourselves.

When AI has our attention

When we open AI, our attention is already somewhere.

We might have a question, an idea, a problem to solve or simply something we're curious about.

We type it in and wait for a response.

Our attention shifts towards what comes back to us. We read it, consider it, perhaps ask another question.

The exchange can be helpful.

Yet perhaps it's also worth noticing how quickly our attention can become focused on what AI has to say.

Before we ask

Sometimes we turn to AI before we've had a chance to think for ourselves.

We might ask it what we should do before noticing what we want. Ask it to write something before finding our own words. Ask for an explanation before sitting with what we already understand. There may be times when that's exactly what we need.

Yet there may be times when our own attention could use a little more space first.

What happens to our attention?

AI can make it easy to move quickly.

A question becomes an answer. An idea becomes a draft. A possibility becomes a recommendation. We don't necessarily need to spend as long searching, wondering or working something out. That can free our attention for other things.

Yet it can also mean that we spend less time noticing where our own attention would have gone if AI hadn't been there.

Perhaps we don't always notice what we're handing over.

Staying with ourselves

We don't need to stop using AI to keep our own attention.

We might simply pause before asking.

What do I think?

What do I want?

What am I curious about?

Sometimes we may still choose to ask AI, and may even be using it to support our thinking rather than replacing it.

The attention we give AI

AI is becoming another place we can turn our attention towards.

Perhaps caring for our attention means noticing when we turn to it, what we're asking it to do, and whether there is something we want to give our own attention to first.

There is nothing wrong with asking for help.

Perhaps the question is simply whether we are still paying attention to ourselves along the way.

I wonder what you might notice the next time you turn to AI, and where your attention was before you asked.